Love Worth Fighting For
by Ragingstillness
Summary: Zelena and Hades become the rulers of the Underworld and have an awesome fight scene together. This is yet another version of the True Love kiss. Please R&R and read the author's note at the end.
Her feet pounded the blacktop, heedless of the anxious cracking of her ankles in her painfully high heeled shoes. Normally she would never run like this from anything, especially with an unhealed injury still sending pangs up and down her calf, but the increasing noise of armor creaking behind her and the need to get to Hades spurred her on.

If they didn't defeat Zeus here and now, every hero, villain, and citizen of the Underworld and Storybrooke could be in danger of losing their lives. Her unstable magic would be no match for the god and even the Dark One would scare be able to manage this type of physical and magical might.

So she turned to the only person who'd have the slightest chance of winning, the only man who ever loved her, and perhaps the only person she'd ever be willing to trust something as valuable as a kiss to.

The situation was not the only rush, honestly, she'd been dying to kiss him since the first time he said he loved her but the timing was never right and she always felt too desperate, as though what she felt for him was not love but just a longing for any type of affection. Now the timing could not be more dire and emotionally it felt she'd had years to contemplate and discover how terrifyingly much she loved him.

She rounded the corner to the center of "Underbrooke," as Regina had taken to calling it, and spotted him leaning against the fallen top of the clock tower, staring blankly at a crack in the sidewalk.

As she got closer he looked up and despite the miraculous novelty of a flower growing steadily at his feet she only had eyes for him.

He rushed forward to meet her halfway but she didn't even give him to time touch her before locking smoldering gazes, whispering an apology, and crushing her lips to his.

A veritable wave of magic rushed up and down his body and when it vanished he truly looked the part of the God he was. Long black hiking pants coated his legs and tucked snuggly into shiny black boots with spurred buckles over the tops. A black belt extended out to a couple of sheathes for two long serrated knives of different lengths that rested squarely on his right hip.

His typical woolen statement coat and suit jacket had vanished for a black long sleeved undershirt that was crossed by a diagonal strip of leather wrapped in loops around a long black sword on his back made of obsidian and inlaid with jewels of every kind.

His hands became coated with half gloves that just covered his fingers then stretched in thin strips of leather to a band on his wrist.

Rough cut obsidian armor also appeared, gliding over his shoulders and neck, opening just slightly at the middle, and finally curling around from the edges of his hips to his shins.

His eyes glittered with slits of gold and his hair was immediately ablaze in electric turquoise.

His arms stretched out and he caught Zelena as she fell into him, stumbling against her injured ankle and how fast she had ran. He dropped to one knee and gently lowered her to the ground taking care to let her hurt leg stretch out in front of her. He made to stand up but she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his ear to her lips.

"Be careful," she whispered.

He met her eyes for a moment, noting the shocking amount of concern shining from her pale blue irises then gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. She let him go and he stood to face his younger brother who was already arrayed in his bulky gold armor, thick muscles bulging under the chain mail.

Zeus sneered at his older brother, calling out to him across the distance. "Needing a woman to save you, how weak."

"Weak? It is you, brother, who is weak, that you cannot see the value of people beyond your sexism."

Zeus growled and Hades drew the sword on his back with his left hand, holding it loosely. The ruby on it began to glow and the outline of his own pulsating heart shone through the tight black sweater. Zeus stared at the heart in shock, then his eyes flicked to where Zelena sat of the ground, still winded.

"Ah," Hades quipped. "Your time on the eternal mountain has made you a little more intelligent than I remember."

"That kiss," Zeus breathed.

"It broke the curse," Hades finished.

He gripped his sword a little tighter, facing the knowledge that his brother had Hades' true love in his sights.

"How dare you?!" Zeus roared at her.

"You pathetic mortal! You should not have meddled in the affairs of gods!"

She blew a piece of hair out of her face and with the most triumphant smile said, "I'll meddle wherever I damn well please, you brute."

Zeus' face contracted in divine anger, and he rushed forward, drawing his sword. Hades let out a half breath as his brother approached before falling forward and with one whistling strike, struck swords with his brother, knocking the larger gold blade skyward.

It had been a while since Hades'd fought and Zeus didn't drop the sword, but he was visibly amazed by Hades' move.

Zeus stopped the sword at the apex of its arc and reversed direction, coming down towards Hades' head. The Lord of the Underworld took a step to the left and paralleled his sword to his body. The hit stuck into the concrete and he pushed forward, aiming for his brother's eye.

Zeus barely managed to block and the gods flew backwards, Hades with the obvious upper hand. Zeus got his feet under him and shoved their swords apart, not wasting words on banter. He then rushed forward and instead of dodging, Hades parried the strike, digging his spurred boots into the depths of the concrete and holding as steady as he could.

Zeus had always had a ridiculous amount of power, especially after he had stopped Hades' heart, but Zelena's kiss had sealed the deal and that power gap was infinitely smaller now. They pushed back and forth, locking the swords.

Then Zeus slid his blade down in a move Hades had definitely never seen before and locked their hilts in a way that allowed him to reach behind his back. A knife came out from some sort of hidden sheath and Hades barely had time to gasp in horror before the blade went hurtling through the air towards Zelena.

As he turned dragged his head through what seemed like water to look at her, a rush of energy flooded his senses.

That kiss hadn't just helped him, love had always been a two way street. He should have known better.

There she stood, long red curls cascading down her bare back, framed by a long black dress made of metal scales. Skintight black gloves stretched up her sinewy arms and the familiar crown of the Underworld rested in all its spindly glory on her head.

One of those gloved arms then reached up elegantly and plucked the gold knife from where she had caught it between her teeth. She twirled it over her knuckles and took several steps forward, her gait even and solid, both legs clearly healed.

Hades spun back to his brother, feeling Zelena rush to even with him, then they attacked together.

Over a couple of locked blades her fiery eyes flashed at his.

He ducked the coming swipe and she reached over his back to block another hidden blade. Then he hooked an arm around her waist and leaned back right, supporting her back through a superhuman backbend. The weight of Zeus' ostentatious sword sliced the air above them and in the moment of bare survival he snatched a smile from her before they both moved back into action, pressing the Lord of Olympus back.

They both reached out with a strike and she managed to hook a low boot around Zeus' leg and he went down. They both sprang on him immediately, Hades' sword poised above his heart and Zelena's dagger grazing his neck.

Zeus tried to struggle and Hades quickly locked eyes with Zelena. She nodded and they both released the normal constraints on their magic. The air shivered and the magic pressure of a witch and a god kept Zeus trapped in a crater of his own body. Hades leaned right in to his brother's face.

"I want you to leave."

Zeus' eyes widened.

"I want you to leave the Underworld to me and never come back."

Zeus looked from one to the other in incredulity. Zelena smiled indulgently and waved her free hand.

"We'll send you our demands."

When Zeus still seemed reluctant she angled the knife a little more upward.

"I wonder if I can take your head off like this," she mused.

Zeus stiffened and gave Hades a stiff nod, refusing to look at the woman who bested him. Hades almost let his sword drop at that but had to contend with watching his brother transport himself away in a completely unnecessary gold haze.

The dagger evaporated from Zelena's hand and she almost looked disappointed to see it go. Hades returned his sword to its scabbard and then took her hand, standing up with her.

He looked down at her innocent face and, overcome with emotion, pulled her into his chest. She didn't move for a few moments then sighed into his shirt and wrapped her arms around his back.

They stayed locked in each other's arms, breathing in the various scents of safety. Her fingers tightened in the wool of the sweater and her face nuzzled lightly into his neck. He smiled and moved one of the hands from her back to her head, holding her as close as he could.

Comfort adequately given after several moments, they pulled apart but only far enough to speak, his hands rewrapped around her waist. She seemed about to speak but he reached up a tapped her on the nose.

"You have a bit of explaining to do."

She feigned innocence.

"What am I explaining?"

He leaned right into her face and enjoyed how her traitorous cheeks lit up.

"That was quite the kiss. I'd like to know why it happened."

She took back control of the situation and dragged a nail down his cheek.

"I can probably spare some time to give you my reasons."

He brushed his lips against hers lightly then whispered, "that sounds wonderful," before pulling her back to him and vanishing them both in a column of blue smoke.

 **Author's note: Keep the Zades coming. This story has little plot, I just wanted yet another version of the kiss and a chance to design Zades battle outfits. Villainous power couples have got to have style right? Please R &R. **

**Also, if anyone has a Zades oneshot idea they want written I will take requests, just PM me.**


End file.
